Ch.117The Path to the Miriam Continent (6)

“Crazy bastards. With all these treasures, they still craved for more?”

As I muttered those words and reached out to touch the mountain of gold coins before me, Simon raised his staff to stop my hand.

“Simon?”

“Don’t touch it carelessly. There might be traps set up.”

At his warning, the three regular sailors who were about to scoop up the coins with bags jumped back in surprise.

Simon began waving his staff and chanting spells that I felt I could never pronounce. Soon, invisible letters engraved in the room started to glow bright blue.

“Crazy bastard…”

“Crazy bastard, you say?”

Simon pointed at the glowing blue letters with his staff.

“This is a gravity reduction spell. Such a deep blue color means someone poured a fortune into it. Party leader, go check with your wife if the mage is truly dead. If I’m dealing with the kind of maniac who would cast gravity reduction spells on mere ship storage, he might have cast mimic transformation spells on each of these boxes.”

“This is insane…”

When Simon first said “crazy bastard,” I didn’t quite get it, but after his explanation, I truly understood how deranged this self-terminated mage must have been.

Would a mage so obsessed with wealth simply commit suicide after losing one battle?

Since I would have been suspicious too, I drew my weapon along with my wife and headed upstairs.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

Past the resonating sound of wood, I opened the door to find the upper floor was the pirates’ living quarters. Surprisingly clean and orderly for pirates, it looked more like naval quarters.

Perhaps they had been navy men once.

After all, those with naval backgrounds who were accustomed to life at sea and possessed military knowledge were quite valued among pirates.

“Ughh… the smell of men…”

“What are you talking about?”

“Can’t you smell it? That musty odor of unwashed men permeating everything.”

“…Not really…?”

How could I, being a man myself, notice such a thing?

I quickly pulled my wife close and headed up to the deck.

Various equipment was scattered across the deck, the most noticeable being an enhanced exoskeleton mount with a large battery charger attached.

It would be difficult to generate electricity without a steam engine, but with a mage around, well…

Click. Click.

“It’s locked.”

When I tried to open the cabin door, it wouldn’t budge.

There was no visible lock, but using one of my marks, Navis, I could tell it was magically sealed.

“Step back, Raisha.”

I lowered my face guard, channeled aura into my blade, and released a horizontal aura blast.

BOOM!

With a thunderous noise, wooden fragments and dust erupted, and the door was torn away along with its frame.

“Ha. Try blocking that with magic.”

I proudly stepped into the cabin, savoring the power of my soul, and nothing stood in my way.

*

“Hmm. He’s definitely dead.”

I had heard gunshots and expected that a refined person like a mage would choose an elegant(?) method of suicide like a pistol.

But what a sight! The mage had put a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun to his head and pulled the trigger. There was no trace of his head left—all I could see was slowly drying blood, flesh, and bone fragments.

“The end of a mage who used up all his spells is quite miserable.”

“Indeed. But with all his pirate shields drowned… he probably thought this was the best option.”

At least death came quickly, before he could feel much pain.

A mage of his caliber could have faced me with simple spells that required no incantation, but fighting a knight in close combat with minor magic would show not just a lack of conscience but a complete failure to assess the situation.

And with another mage present on our side, his only choices were to die by his own hand or someone else’s. He chose the former.

“Come, let’s go down. There’s no more danger. Unless Logos somehow breathes life back into him.”

“Yes, master.”

Just to be safe, I burned his corpse with Ignatus.

His room was protected by magic, so there was no worry about the ship catching fire.

We went back down the stairs and found our companions in despair before the mountain of gold coins.

*

“What’s wrong? Why are you like this?”

When I grabbed Casia’s shoulder and shook her, she answered through tears.

“Sob… These… they’re all counterfeit coins…”

“What?”

All those mountains of gold coins were fake?

As I stood there with a dumbfounded expression, Simon approached with the sailors, carrying several boxes filled with gold coins.

“These boxes contain the ‘real gold coins’ that were here. The rest are fake, transformed by shape-shifting magic.”

As Simon waved his staff, the shining gold coins instantly turned into stones that merely resembled gold coins.

It was disappointing, but thinking about it, it made sense.

No matter how hard a mage tried, he couldn’t match a dragon’s wealth, and there was no need to keep that many gold coins on a ship.

Besides, if those had been real gold, the pirates would have turned on each other long ago.

“Still, isn’t this quite a lot? How many exactly?”

“I used arithmetic magic to calculate—exactly 2,482 coins.”

Simon said this while looking at me.

Since I was the party leader, the authority to distribute them was mine.

I thought for a moment, then took the box and returned to the Mary Ross.

*

“Deck Officer Edward?”

“Yes, Lord Victor?”

“Gather all passengers and crew on deck. It’s about the spoils, so everyone must attend.”

“Ah! Right away!”

Following my order to Edward, about 80 people soon gathered on the deck, which was still covered with fragments and blood.

Originally there were over 150, but many had died in the battle.

I stacked boxes to create a temporary platform, cleared my throat, and addressed the crowd.

“Our Iron Walker party, as the greatest contributors to this battle, has the right to distribute the spoils taken from the enemy as we see fit. If anyone objects, raise your hand.”

After I spoke, people murmured briefly, but no one raised a hand.

The reason was simple—our Iron Walker party could kill all 80 of them if necessary.

“With the annihilation of the pirates, our Iron Walker party discovered a considerable amount of wealth. This amounts to approximately 2,500 gold coins, which we will now distribute among the crew, passengers, and our party.”

When I mentioned 2,500 gold coins, commotion erupted among the crowd.

“2,500 gold coins…!?”

“That’s an enormous sum…?”

“But we didn’t do anything—can we still receive some?”

“Shh! Keep quiet or we might not get anything!”

Murmur… murmur…

As the whispering intensified, Simon tapped his staff on the deck to silence the crowd.

BANG!

“””!”””

“Silence! Lord Victor is still speaking!”

I nodded to Simon in brief thanks, then called for the Deck Officer and helmsman.

“Deck Officer and helmsman, step forward.”

Edward and the helmsman timidly came forward, and I patted their shoulders while asking:

“Do you have a roster of the crew members who perished in this battle?”

“Yes… I confirmed it’s still in the captain’s quarters.”

“Then what is the value of this Mary Ross?”

“Well… I’m not a shipwright so I don’t know exactly, but when registering the ship, I heard it was worth about 700 gold coins.”

“With the captain deceased, who currently holds authority over this ship and its crew?”

“Normally the first mate would take over, but this is a small ship, so the helmsman and I share the responsibility.”

I nodded slightly and handed them a box containing 1,000 gold coins.

“This box contains 1,000 gold coins. I give you this money not to satisfy your personal greed, but to send funds to the families of the deceased crew members, repair the ship, treat the surviving crew, and comfort them.”

“Oh my…!”

“Deck Officer and helmsman, kneel.”

At my command, the two men below the platform knelt in unison.

I passed the box to Lucia, who held it with Casia while awaiting my orders.

“Current time: Year 1200 of the Extinction Calendar, Month 16, Day 31. A battle was fought between the Mary Ross and an unnamed pirate ship in the Fami Strait.”

After this opening, I explained that by the authority vested in me by the Four Gods and the Sun and Moon, I could transfer the captain’s authority.

“As Victor Walker, a knight-errant who has inherited the authority of the Salvation Knights, and the power of blood, love, wisdom, abundance, the sun, and the moon, I hereby, under my authority as a knight and in place of the fallen captain, bestow 1,000 gold coins to the Deck Officer and helmsman representing the crew of the Mary Ross.”

When I finished speaking, the elf sisters handed the box to the two men, who took it and merged back into the crowd of sailors.

Next came the time to award the remaining gold coins to the passengers.

“Who is the oldest male among the passengers of the Mary Ross?”

After a brief commotion among the passengers, an old man with abundant white hair and beard, stooped with age, raised his hand and walked forward.

“I… I believe I am the oldest. My name is Michael, Lord Victor.”

“Kneel before the representative of the gods.”

Michael prostrated himself.

“By the authority of a knight, protector and guide of the people, I likewise, in place of the captain, bestow 482 gold coins to these exemplary citizens who followed the crew’s instructions calmly to prevent collateral damage, maintained their reason and order despite the fear of death and threat of corruption, and showed admirable mental fortitude in a desperate situation, becoming a model for all people of the world.”

This time, Raisha carried the box and handed it to Michael.

“However, as the passengers are numerous and lack an authority figure to control them, I temporarily appoint Simon, the sage of the Iron Walker party, as mediator to adjust the amount of gold coins each passenger may take. Are there any objections?”

“N-no, my lord! To give gold coins even to lowly ones like me…! Thank you so much! Thanks be to the Four Gods!”

When he gave glory to the Four Gods, I corrected his mistake.

“That is incorrect.”

“P-pardon?”

“I was knighted upon receiving the message of Nariakira Saburo, the Sun of Humanity, not the Four Gods. Therefore, you should properly worship the Sun of Humanity.”

After I said this, Michael looked up at the sky, offered thanks to the Sun, and then struggled to carry the box back to the passengers.

“Finally, I announce that we, the Iron Walker, as the primary contributors to resolving the disaster of pirate plunder and attack, rightfully incorporate 1,000 gold coins as our share, and I also declare that this knight will temporarily serve as captain of the Mary Ross until the end of the current voyage. If anyone objects, raise your hand.”

No one raised a hand.

The overwhelming authority of a knight had burned away even their faint discontent.

I had given them fair compensation, and finally offered a prayer of thanks to the Sun who had given me strength.

“With this, I declare this matter concluded. Long live the Sun!”

“””Long live the Sun!”””

And so, three weeks later than expected, we finally arrived at the continent of Miriam.